While the ultimate reason for Google's continued dominance in the search engine wars may be up for debate, few would argue that the egalitarian nature of the site's ranking algorithm isn't a large factor in the popularity of the tool. By factoring in not just the overall traffic of a given page, but also the number of other sites linking to that page and their relative rankings, Google has effectively turned the compilation of its search results over to the masses, letting sites rise and fall based on their own merits.

For the most part, this hands-off approach has served the company well. By excising any sort of editorial control from their rankings, Google is ostensibly beyond reproach when it comes to allegations of slanted rankings, preferential treatment, or advertiser influence.

This week, it has come to light that the top-ranked result on Google for the word "Jew" is the unabashedly vile anti-Semitic site "Jew Watch."

Many in the Jewish community are naturally concerned:

There is an inherent danger when a hate site masquerades as an academic resource, said Brian Marcus of the civil-rights division of the Anti-Defamation League.

"One of our major concerns is that children unable to discern what is true will stumble onto these hate sites," he said. "There have been many cases where children unknowingly turn in school reports that contain anti-Semitic and racist remarks."

Other Jewish leaders, however, believe that there may be an educational benefit to bringing hate speech such as that found on this site into the spotlight:

Jonathan Bernstein, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Central Pacific Region, noted that one can find plenty of Holocaust denial Web sites by simply typing "Holocaust" into Google.

"Some responsibility for this needs to rest on our own shoulders and not just a company like Google. We have to prepare our kids for things they come across [on the Internet]," he said.

"This is part of the nature of an Internet world. The disadvantage is we see more of it and our kids see more of it. The advantage is, we see more of it, so we're able to respond to it. I'm not sure what people would want to see happen. You couldn't really ask Google not to list it."

As for Google, its representatives are sticking to the company line:

Google spokesman David Krane said the company's search results are determined by a complex set of algorithms that measure factors such as how many sites link to a given page. The company can't and won't change the ranking for Jew Watch, regardless of how many signatures the petition attracts.

"Google's search results are solely determined by computer algorithms that essentially reflect the popular opinion of the Web," he said. "Our search results are not manipulated by hand. We're not able to make any manual changes to the results."

Google may be unwilling to alter the results, but an online petition has surfaced nonetheless. Steven Weinstock, the New York real estate investor behind the petition, claims that 50,000 signatures would be needed to convince Google to change the rankings, though less than 3,000 have been gathered so far. Moreover, Google has stated that it doesn't matter how many signatures Weinstock gathers; they stand by their non-interference policy regardless.